Negotiating Authority: Perceptions of Age in the Writing

From 2003 to 2006, I worked as a writing center tutor at a small, private, liberal arts college. I was the "traditional" college student while I worked at the writing center: I was between the ages of 19 and 22 and a middle-class Caucasian woman. During my three years working as a tutor at the Moravian College and Theological Seminary Writing Center, other tutors and I faced our biggest challenges while working with Moravian Seminary students–graduate students at the seminary studying to become affiliated with the Moravian Church. These students were typically many years older than the tutors. As younger tutors, we often felt that these older student-writers did not value our input on their writing.University Writing Cente

New advances in amblyopia therapy I: Binocular therapies and pharmacologic augmentation

Amblyopia therapy options have traditionally been limited to penalisation of the non-amblyopic eye with either patching or pharmaceutical penalisation. Solid evidence, mostly from the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group, has validated both number of hours a day of patching and days per week of atropine use. The use of glasses alone has also been established as a good first-line therapy for both anisometropic and strabismic amblyopia. Unfortunately, visual acuity equalisation or even improvement is not always attainable with these methods. Additionally, non-compliance with prescribed therapies contributes to treatment failures, with data supporting difficulty adhering to full treatment sessions. Interest in alternative therapies for amblyopia treatment has long been a topic of interest among researchers and clinicians alike. Incorporating new technology with an understanding of the biological basis of amblyopia has led to enthusiasm for binocular treatment of amblyopia. Early work on perceptual learning as well as more recent enthusiasm for iPad-based dichoptic training have each generated interesting and promising data for vision improvement in amblyopes. Use of pharmaceutical augmentation of traditional therapies has also been investigated. Several different drugs with unique mechanisms of action are thought to be able to neurosensitise the brain and enhance responsiveness to amblyopia therapy. No new treatment has emerged from currently available evidence as superior to the traditional therapies in common practice today. But ongoing investigation into the use of both new technology and the understanding of the neural basis of amblyopia promises alternate or perhaps better cures in the future.</jats:p

Neuromodulatory control of localized dendritic spiking in critical period cortex.

Sensory experience in early postnatal life, during so-called critical periods, restructures neural circuitry to enhance information processing1. Why the cortex is susceptible to sensory instruction in early life and why this susceptibility wanes with age are unclear. Here we define a developmentally restricted engagement of inhibitory circuitry that shapes localized dendritic activity and is needed for vision to drive the emergence of binocular visual responses in the mouse primary visual cortex. We find that at the peak of the critical period for binocular plasticity, acetylcholine released from the basal forebrain during periods of heightened arousal directly excites somatostatin (SST)-expressing interneurons. Their inhibition of pyramidal cell dendrites and of fast-spiking, parvalbumin-expressing interneurons enhances branch-specific dendritic responses and somatic spike rates within pyramidal cells. By adulthood, this cholinergic sensitivity is lost, and compartmentalized dendritic responses are absent but can be re-instated by optogenetic activation of SST cells. Conversely, suppressing SST cell activity during the critical period prevents the normal development of binocular receptive fields by impairing the maturation of ipsilateral eye inputs. This transient cholinergic modulation of SST cells, therefore, seems to orchestrate two features of neural plasticity-somatic disinhibition and compartmentalized dendritic spiking. Loss of this modulation may contribute to critical period closure

Effects of Chlordiazepoxide on Predator Odor-Induced Reductions of Playfulness in Juvenile Rats

The extent to which a non-sedative dose of chlordiazepoxide (CDP) is able to modify the behavioral responses toward a predator odor was assessed in juvenile rats. Play behavior was suppressed and defensive behaviors were enhanced in the presence of a collar previously worn by a cat, when tested 24 hours later in the same context as that where the exposure occurred, and when tested in a context different than that in which the exposure occurred for up to 3 hours after exposure. CDP had no effect on the ability of cat odor to suppress play when rats were tested in the presence of the odor or when tested 24 hours later in the same context where that exposure occurred. When rats were exposed to a worn cat collar in their home cage and tested in a different context CDP attenuated the ability of cat odor to reduce one measure of play (nape contacts) but not another measure (pins). Rats had an opportunity to hide during testing and CDP either decreased hiding or increased risk assessment from within the hide box in all of the testing scenarios. These data suggest that CDP can alter the defensive strategy used by juvenile rats that are confronted with a predatory threat and can also lead to an earlier return to pre-threat levels of playfulness when that threat becomes less immediate

Examination of Nitrogen to Phosphorus Ratio in Nutrient Removal from Wastewater through Chlorella vulgaris

A need for phosphorus removal is becoming increasingly evident as some wastewater treatment plants struggle to meet wastewater effluent nutrient requirements. High nutrient levels in wastewater effluents have also caused ongoing tension between the state of Oklahoma and Arkansas regarding the pollution of the Illinois River. This research seeks to establish the relationship between nitrogen to phosphorus ratio in wastewater and the level of nutrient reduction using Chlorella vulgaris. Seed cultures of Chlorella vulgaris were added into solutions with various ratios of nitrate to phosphate representative of treated domestic wastewater and the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus were measured in this study. Results showed phosphate is the limiting factor for Chlorella vulgaris. The removal of nitrate from phosphate-limited wastewater effluent increased significantly by the growth of Chlorella vulgaris when supplemented with phosphate. This suggests that algal nutrient removal might not be suitable as a tertiary treatment for all wastewater effluent. This study will enhance wastewater treatment plants’ knowledgebase about further nutrient reduction techniques, and in turn, make more informed decisions

Search for Advocacy: A measure of local attentiveness to homelessness

From urban capitals to rural countryside, and every locality in between, homelessness is a national phenomenon that affects every community. Each locality responds to it differently through the variety of homeless programs and services it offers. By doing such, each locality displays a certain level of attentiveness to their homeless population. This article explores how 10 small southeastern cities respond to their local homelessness and seeks to compare the homeless attentiveness of Bowling Green, Kentucky to similar localities. An evaluative measure of municipal attentiveness based on a range of homelessness program areas is used to score each city’s response to its homelessness. A non-parametric test finds that there is not a significant difference in the attentiveness of evaluated localities, and in turn concludes that Bowling Green’s attentiveness to its homelessness is not significantly less than that of the other cities. However, an analysis of the descriptive statistics reveal the strengths and weaknesses of Bowling Green’s response to homelessness, identifying prevention and emergency services as areas needing more attention. This research and its following discussion serve as a starting point for the ten localities examined, as well as other similar localities, to examine their own response to local homelessness

Perceptions of Age Discrimination, Organizational Justice, and Employee Attitudes on Intentions to Leave in the Engineering Industry

The U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (2006) reported that the annual turnover rate for employees of U.S. firms rose to 41% in 2005. Employee intentions to leave among young adults are a concern in many industries where the demand for skilled employees begins to exceed the supply. This is especially true in the engineering industry, because talented and knowledgeable employees are difficult to replace. Employee turnover represents a practical dilemma for many businesses due to the loss of qualified personnel and additional recruitment and training costs. Although little is known about employee turnover intention within the engineering industry, studies have supported that perceptions of inequity are among the chief causes associated with turnover intention. Extensive examination of empirical studies has supported that young adult employee\u27s perceptions of age discrimination, organizational justice, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment may be contributing factors to their intention to leave a job. The purposes of this correlational and comparative study were to explain the relationship among demographic and work characteristics, perceived age discrimination against young adults, organizational justice, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intention among members of the Florida Engineering Society. A sample of 251 engineers associated with the Florida Engineering Society completed an online survey. Two research questions and four hypotheses were developed. Descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, Mann Whitney U test, ANOVAs with post hoc comparisons (Bonferroni test), curvilinear simple regression analyses, and hierarchical multiple regression analyses answered research questions and tested hypothesized relationships among socio-demographic and work profile characteristics, perceived age discrimination, organizational justice, employee attitudes, and intention to turnover using the Perceived Age Discrimination Scale, Organizational Justice Scale, Overall Job Satisfaction Questionnaire, Organizational Commitment Questionnaire, and the Employee Intentions to Leave Scale. Results of the psychometric characteristics of the survey instruments indicated good estimates of reliability and validity were established. All four hypotheses in this study were partially supported. Findings indicated that age was a significant predictor of age discrimination and that both variables revealed a non-linear relationship. Younger engineers (below the age of 40) perceived significantly more age discrimination than their older counterparts. Gender, race, ethnicity, social status, existence of a talent development program or succession planning program in the workplace, occupation level, organizational size, geographic location, tenure, and annual personal income were found to be explanatory variables of the dependent measures. Perceived age discrimination, organizational justice, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organization size, annual personal income, location of North Florida, and presence of a succession planning program were all found to be explanatory variables of intentions to leave. Limitations, practical implications, conclusions, and recommendations for future research are also discussed

Controversy and the Common Core. A Book Review of \u3cem\u3eCommon Core: National Education Standards and the Threat to Democracy\u3c/em\u3e

For a decade, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have been no stranger to controversy. Tangled in the discourse have been numerous scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and community members. Many of those in favor of the Common Core argue that national standards provide a foundation on which to build equitable opportunities for student success, while those opposed say that they disempower autonomy of local schools, community members, parents, and students themselves. In Common Core: National Education Standards and the Threat to Democracy, Tampio (2018) highlights how national standards create barriers for students to operate as citizens in a democratic society. He advocates for a return to localized power and control, which he admits may not be a silver bullet to solve the country’s education afflictions but does reflect a governing system that is equitable, democratic, and reflective of the talents and interests of individual students and communities

The Evolution of the Reference Interview

While the reference interview remains the vehicle whereby librarians are able to understand the information needs of users in order to assist them, the ways in which the reference interview is conducted have changed with time and technology. This chapter provides a brief history of the evolution of the reference interview, from the face-to-face transaction to the current trends of e-mail and chat software mediated reference interviews, and examines application of these current trends in virtual reference services. While the methods of conducting the reference interview have certainly changed, the ultimate goal of meeting the information needs of the user remains constant. Reprinted by permission of the publisher